Reports & Media

It is a mighty feat of politics that a government budget delivered well can keep commentators occupied for weeks. The Budget sets the terms of debate, pulling into sharp focus areas that receive additional funding, have had funding cut, or remain fiscally neglected by government. Read more

What do the Shotover jetboat operator, the maker of Weet-Bix breakfast cereal, St George’s Hospital in Christchurch, winemaker Mission Estate, and that group that plays the backing music on X-Factor have in common? No, this is not a joke. Read more

Here is a brain teaser: Suppose an aeroplane takes an hour to fly from A to B on a calm day. Now imagine that it is a windy so that on the way out, the plane’s speed is reduced by headwinds. Read more

Superannuation was in the news again this week following the government's budget announcement. Labour leader Andrew Little demanded tighter eligibility requirements of the universal pension scheme. Read more

New Zealand has long struggled with a geographic weakness, namely a position on the globe so remote that Tasmania features almost as prominently on a world map as the Land of the Long White Cloud. The isolation extends beyond just the geographical, with the country and its nearest neighbour, Australia, sticking out like an anglophile sore thumb amid the diaspora of Asian nations, all of which have more in common with each other than New Zealand. Read more

If the definition of madness is ‘doing something over and over again while expecting a different result’, then Europe is certainly going mad. At the same time that European integration is heading for the rocks, the leaders of France and Germany are calling for more of the same. Read more

Begging the reader’s indulgence, please bear with me while we conduct a brief thought exercise: Imagine for a second you received a letter telling you that the Transport Authority had conducted a review of your driver’s license. The letter says that having examined your stated reason for driving, insurance claims and record on the road against the department’s official definition of a driving purpose, you have been judged unfit to drive, and your licence has been cancelled. Read more

Budget 2015 was delivered yesterday, and my colleagues below take a look at this mixed bag of good and questionable decisions. But what about the overall direction of the government? Read more

Housing formed one of the main cornerstones of the government’s budget. The announcements were dominated by demand-side measures, the most prominent of which was to make gains from the sale of any residential investment property within two years of purchase taxable. Read more

Auckland City, Auckland house prices. Politically, that is the government's most immediate local government issue. Read more

While that pesky surplus is proving rather capricious, this year’s budget shows tentative progress towards fiscal objectives. The Initiative’s 2014 report Guarding the Public Purse, argued that greater productivity growth, competition and spending restraint were essential to achieving longer-term fiscal sustainability. Read more

There was much speculation that this would be the budget that would radically transform the way the government funds and delivers social services. In a speech made earlier this year, Finance Minister Bill English hinted at a new budget process: rolling out the ‘social investment approach’ to areas beyond welfare. Read more